Fathers Day 2011

By Thomas Michaels on June 19, 2011 12:38 PM

Stillwater hosted the Stillwater Criterium today so I headed away from downtown and out to the west. The 7 mile loop followed a paved bike trail out Boutwell to Manning, then north to McKusick, and back around the lake following a route I often take behind Eagle Ridge.

At about the 4 mile mark my crotch was getting sore from sitting. I worked on rising up out of the seat and taking 20 strokes - 10 revolutions - up out of the seat, and that helped get the blood flowing again. I did that several times as I rode back on McKusick and worked on getting nice, stable, even pressure on the pedals. It was a good workout for the legs.

I stopped at about the 5.5 mile mark to take a few pictures near the lake including the one above. That stretch has some challenging bumps, transitions and steep hills that I was able to make, although a couple of them took an extra try.

Now that I've got my exercise in for the day, I feel better about walking down to the Criterium and watching bicycle racers pound up the steep hills on the banks of the St. Croix.